WEBVTT 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 was born on the 3rd January, 1892. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He and his brother Hilary, experienced 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a difficult childhood; when Tolkien was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 just four, they lost their father, Arthur, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to rheumatic fever. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 As a widow with low income, his mother 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Mabel, home school the brothers and played 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a vital role in their early education and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 development. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Tolkien was a smart young boy, with a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 fascination and thirst for languages. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Tolkien sat the entrance exam for King 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Edward's School, Birmingham and passed. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 From the Autumn of 1900, for a fee of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 12 pounds a year, Tolkien would be 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 educated in an environment that would help 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 fulfil his academic potential. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] Going to King Edward's was vitally 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 important to Tolkien; he was an 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 exceptionally talented boy. King Edward's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 offered him a vast amount of scope and also 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the company of other boys who were 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 similarly talented. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Which was probably quite hard for Tolkien 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to find. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Simon Stacey] Not only did he play rugby but 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he was a leading light in the debating society 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the literary society; he was the life and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 soul really and he missed the school a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 great deal, I think, when he finally had 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to leave. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] At the age of just 11, Tolkien and his 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 brother Hilary, lose their mother, Mabel, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to diabetes. Grief stricken, he plunges 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 himself into school life more energetically 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 than before. Academically he excels, but 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in 1905, meets his intellectual rival, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Christopher Wiseman. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] Tolkien met his greatest friend 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 at King Edward's, Christopher Wiseman on 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the rugby pitch. A musician, a mathematician; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 quite different from Tolkien. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They developed such a strong bond on the rugby 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 field that they called themselves; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "The Great Twin Brethren", which was a phrase 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 from "Lays of Ancient Rome" by Lord 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Macauley. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Simon Stacey] They also were friendly rivals 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the school, both being very academic 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 boys. Wiseman had a formidable intellect 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and he was interested in a lot of the things 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that Tolkien was getting interested in; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 languages, I think he was looking at 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Egyptian and was looking at hieroglyphics. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] Tolkien and Wiseman must have 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 helped define each other through their 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 teenage years because they would argue; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they would argue strongly about all their 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 beliefs in life. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Simon Stacey] Wiseman was a very talented 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 musician; Tolkien was supposed to be tone 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 deaf but that didn't stop them getting on! 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] Tolkien also befriends, son of the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 headmaster, Rob Gilson. Tolkien, Wiseman 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and Gilson, form a strong bond which will 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 last throughout their school years and beyond. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Outside of King Edward's, Tolkien's life is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 about to change, yet again. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] Tolkien was living in lodgings 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with his brother, Hilary, and when he was 16 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he met fellow lodger, Edith Bratt, who was 19 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 at the time. And she was a beautiful young 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 girl; talented pianist and also an orphan. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And the two of them bonded on their shared 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 sadnesses but also on their hopes and dreams. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The difficulty for Ronald, as she called him, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and Edith, was that he was a Roman Catholic 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and she was an Anglican. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] Tolkien's Guardian, Father Francis Morgan, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a Catholic Priest, feels this is major 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 divide; and also believes that Edith will 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 distract Tolkien from his attempts to get 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 into Oxford University. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] Father Francis Morgan, forbade 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 them from seeing each other, or even from 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 communicating. He was thrown back upon his 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 friendships at King Edward's and it was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 this final phase of his time here, that he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 began to flourish and make the place his 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 own; he and his friends ruled the roost. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] Making the most of his final year at 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 King Edward's and the friendships he has 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 formed, Tolkien and his peers create an 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 informal society. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 These young intellectuals gather in the school 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 library and do what they are forbidden to do: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 brew tea. Outside of school hours, they meet 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in a cafe at Barrow's Stores in Birmingham 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and so, self-mockingly, they call themselves 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the "Tea Club and Barrovean Society" 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or the TCBS for short. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (nostalgic music) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] The core of the TCBS was probably 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Tolkien and Wiseman and the others 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 gravitated around them. There was Robert 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Quilter Gilson, the son of the headmaster 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 here; Rob was a cultured and sociable chap, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he was perhaps the social glue of the group; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he would welcome anyone and find common 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 cause with them. A gentle artistic fellow 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 who loved to sketch. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Simon Stacey] He was a gifted artist and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 had ambitions to be an architect. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There was a late arrival, Geoffrey Bache Smith, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 who was fascinated by mythology, Celtic 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 mythology; so this gave him common ground 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with Tolkien; it was another of Tolkien's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 passions. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Simon Stacey] Smith was quite an accomplished 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and advanced poet who recommended contemporary 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 poetry to Tolkien. When he started writing 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 poetry, Tolkien was to a certain extent, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 inspired by Smith and the wider group. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And that was really the beginnings of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Tolkien as a writer. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] From the beginnings which were 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 mostly about fun, later on, during the war years, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 this developed into a fellowship from which 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 each of them drew tremendous strength and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 comfort. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] Later that year, Tolkien's time at 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 King Edward's comes to an end and he begins 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 his first term at Oxford, having successfully 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 gained entrance. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 On the eve of his 21st birthday, and his 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 independence from Father Francis Morgan, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Tolkien writes to Edith and less than a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 week later, they are re-united. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Edith is engaged to marry another man, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but despite almost certain ridicule, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 she agrees to break the engagement to be 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with her Ronald. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Over the next few months, a growing sense of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 trouble brews across Europe and on the 28th 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of June, 1914, everything changes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (gun shot sound) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (solemn music) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Gavrillo Princip is arrested for the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A diplomatic crisis ensues and within weeks, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Europe's major powers are at war. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Germany invades Belgium and Britain declares 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 war on Germany. Parliament issues a call 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to arms from the British public. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Paul Golightly] There isn't a rush to the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 colours straight away. It becomes much more 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 obvious that people are willing to join 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 up when atrocity stories start to emerge, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 then you get a much more concerted rush 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to join. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] There was an air of excitement 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 about the war, there was a naive sense that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 this would allow young men to fulfil their 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 potential in a way that wasn't possible in 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 peace time. There was a tremendous sense 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of patriotism and a sense of duty towards 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 whatever England, or Britain, stood for. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Paul Golightly] They are attracted to the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 idea of a settling of accounts with the Germans, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or at least some of them will be. On the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 whole, they thought they were going to give 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the Germans a bloody nose. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] "The Germans has been dastardly" 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and needed to dealt with and shown their place. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Paul Golightly] Men join up out of economic 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 necessity and you'll find that in any war. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Life is not very exciting and the romance 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and colour of joining the army and being 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 part of something very big indeed, I'm sure 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 has some allure. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (solemn music) And they see things 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in rather romantic ways, which of course is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 doomed to fail; we all know what the First 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 World War turns into. It's not a war of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 movement, of dash and élan; it's not cavalry 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 charges and distant trumpets; I'm afraid 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it's the pitter-patter of machine gun fire 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the crump of artillery that's going to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 dominate. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So they, I think, have expectations about what 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the war will be like, and I think their main 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 emotion was, will it be over before I can 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 get to France. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] Tolkien, who's reading covered 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ancient heroic literature, that is surprisingly 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 frank about what happens in war, went into 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the war much more open-eyed. He described 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 himself as a "young man with too much 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 imagination" and so he did not relish battle 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in any sense. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Paul Golightly] And I think that applies 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to, not just men like Tolkien who fought in it, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but also the politicians and generals who 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 directed it; I think a lot of people 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 understood that this war could be terrible. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Simon Stacey] What you get in the letters 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 between Gilson, Tolkien and Wiseman and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 then in Smith's poetry, is a serious 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 determination to do their duty and that they 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 should be prepared to give their lives. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A realistic appreciation that this is a dark time 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and that they've got to come through it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] G.B. Smith and Rob Gilson both join 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the army in 1914, Tolkien's brother, Hilary, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 signs up as a bugler and Christopher Wiseman 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 joins the navy. Tolkien however, faces a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 dilemma. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Simon Stacey] Tolkien was in a difficult 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 position when war broke out; he had a year 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of his degree at Oxford to run and Tolkien 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 needed a degree badly because he wanted to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 pursue an academic career; he didn't have 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 any money in his family unlike Gilson and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 therefore, having committed three years to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the degree it was very important that he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 completed it. So he discovered a scheme 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 whereby he could undergo some training 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the Officer Training Core whilst 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 completing his degree, which he did triumphantly 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with a first at Oxford. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] He follows good friend, G.B.Smith, into 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the Lancashire Fusiliers in the hope of being 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 posted to the same battalion. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] Tolkien was looking for something 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the army through which he could use his 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 particular talents, and his particular talents 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 were languages and writing systems; he was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 fascinated by codes and so forth. So it was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 only natural that he would train up as a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 signaller. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Paul Golightly] It would have meant that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Tolkien was exposed to the technology 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 available at the time and it must have 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 interested him; so the use of the radio, the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 use of signals, of semaphore. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Simon Stacey] He learnt morse code, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he learnt how to use signalling lamps, field 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 telephones; which of course went on largely 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to be ineffective or not to work. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] He became Battalion Signalling 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Officer for his Battalion. Tolkien had to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 oversee the communications of a Battalion 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of between 600 and 1,000 men depending on 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 manpower at the time. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Paul Golightly] His basic job of course 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 was to act as a link between the various 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 layers of command, and that he would be 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 responsible for incoming orders and making sure 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that the right people got those and of course 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he'd be responsible for telling command further 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 up the line about the situation on his sector. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] So he was an absolute lynch pin 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in a war which depended absolutely on how 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 much information you had about your enemies 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 position. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] In March of 1916 as his training nears 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 its completion, both Tolkien and Edith 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 become aware that he will soon be sent to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the Front. They marry and just over two 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 months later, Tolkien is shipped off to France. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The two of them part, not knowing if they 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 will ever see each other again. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Loud battle sounds, Guns Firing, Shouting) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (ominous music) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] When Tolkien arrives at the Front, the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 War has been raging for almost two years. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The cost of the War is clear; 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the countryside is scarred and the casualties 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 high. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 After a virtual stalemate of trench warfare 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 throughout 1915, and with a new wave of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 thousands of freshly trained recruits, it is 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 clear the Big Push is imminent. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (marching feet) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Tolkien's Battalion remains in reserve, but 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he fears for the lives of his old school 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 friends who are at the Front. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Within a month of his arrival in France 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the Allies launch the Somme Offensive. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 At 7.30am, on Saturday 1st of July, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the troops in the British Frontline, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 go over the top. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (whistle sound echoes) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 On the first day of the Offensive alone, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 20,000 men are killed, 35,000 are wounded 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and over 2,000 are reported missing. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Paul Golightly] The first casualty was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the plan. It started to fall apart very 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 rapidly. Tragically for the men caught out 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the open, it was a death sentence. 1 in 5 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 men who went into combat on the 1st of July 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 was killed. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] It was the most disastrous day 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the history of the British Army, and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a tragedy for the entire country. There were 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 villages that had lost all their young men. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Paul Golightly] It's marked as a loss of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 innocence, that the 20,000 that were killed 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 represent a turning point in British 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 consciousness and the relationship perhaps 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 between those who make decisions and those 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 who are forced to carry them out. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (soft piano music) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] Among the many men that are lost on that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 day, is dear friend and TCBS member, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Robert Gilson. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] He led his Platoon over the top 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 took charge of his Company, but was shot 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the middle of No Man's Land. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Paul Golightly] He was in the fourth wave. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He saw the first wave go in and fail, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the second wave go in and fail, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the third wave go in and fail. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And he, as a part of the fourth wave, had 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to go in; and they still went. And that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I think is the most poignant and probably 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the most tragic thing about the 1st of July 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 1916. That this generation, had so much faith 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in their superiors, probably had so much 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 commitment to their fellows that they were 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 prepared to go, even though it meant certain 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 death. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] Tolkien heard about this 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 after his first action on the Somme a couple 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of weeks later; and he was devastated. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It shook him to the foundations of his 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 beliefs. He had, as all of the members of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the TCBS had, built up their group as a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 fellowship, with ideas and a spirit that had 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 something to give to the World. In which 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 all four of them were vital parts, and now 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 one of them was dead. So what did that mean 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 about their overall purpose? And also his 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 purpose. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Simon Stacey] Geoffrey Smith wrote him a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 letter in which, clearly Smith experiences 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 feelings of devastation and a sense that the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 fellowship had been broken. Rob would never 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 become an architect, he would never fulfil 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 his part in whatever they dreamed of. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] And I think it took him quite 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 some time to recover from that. The other 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 two members, Wiseman and Smith, were 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 determined to persuade him that, no, the TCBS 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 purpose continued and I think eventually 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Tolkien took heart from that. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] Tolkien writes to Rob's father, Headmaster 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 at King Edward's school to offer his 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 condolences. The TCBS lost a bright young 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 man, a talented artist and most painfully 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of all; a dear friend. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Tolkien's war has well and truly started and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 over the coming months he is subject to the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 many hardships of trench warfare. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] He spent his time in and out 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of the trenches. Battalions would be rotated 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 from the Frontline to the reserve trenches 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to rest, as they laughably called it, but 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it wasn't really rest, it was training. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Tolkien talked about the universal weariness 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of all this war. But during this period he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 was involved in three attacks, he was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 very fortunate not to have to go through the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 first day of the Somme; he was a few miles 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 back from the Frontline at that time. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 His Battalion moved forward for a second 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 wave of attacks, they were launched against a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 village called Ovier; which had been the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 German Frontline. One of the first things that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he encountered was, complete chaos in the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 battlefield communications system. It was very 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 primitive. It was only partly built; damaged 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 by the fortunes of battle. He had signallers 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 going across No Man's Land carrying flares 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to say, we have arrived. Further flares - 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "we have taken prisoners", they carried 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 pigeons; pigeons were about the most reliable 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 method of communication. One of Tolkien's 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 signallers won a military medal for managing 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to get his pigeons across No Man's Land and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 do the job correctly. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] The attack is a success and many 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 prisoners are captured. Of all the combat 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Tolkien encounters, one of the most significant 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 battles is also one of his last; an attack 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 on Regina Trench. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] This was in October, by which 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 time the battlefield had been reduced to mud. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The attack had been delayed by heavy rain 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but on October 21st there was a cold snap 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so the ground was frozen hard and the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 attack was able to go ahead. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Deep boom. Loud Artillery Fire) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Gunfire, bullets zipping by) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (solemn music) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] He saw violent death, he also 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 saw and felt extreme terror. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He never, as far as we know, described at 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 length what trench warfare was like but he 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 summed it up in two words, in one of his 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 letters, and this was; "animal horror". 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It would reduce you from humanity and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 turn you into a retched beast desperate only 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to cower and survive. And it's very 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 interesting if you look in The Lord of The Rings 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 whenever the characters are in situations of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 extreme fear, they're always described as 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 stooping and stupefied, un-manned by terror. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Paul Golightly] A lot of British trenches 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 were deliberately uncomfortable because 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the Generals wanted the men to believe 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that they were only temporary, that they 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 would be advancing beyond this, that this 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 wasn't their home. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] Out on the Western Front, Tolkien feels 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 isolated from home and letters to, and from, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Edith are a lifeline. For reasons of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 strategic importance Tolkien is forbidden 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 from sharing his location in his letters, so 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he devises a code of dots to keep Edith 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 informed of where he is. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] He simply found the letters 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of the alphabet within what he wrote to her 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and put a dot above the relevant ones to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 spell out the name of the place where he was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 currently located. And Edith kept a map 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 on her wall and pins to show where he was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 at that time. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] After the successful attack on Regina 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Trench, the Battalion is withdrawn from the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 front and paraded in front of the top brass. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Tolkien however, falls ill. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] It was trench fever. And this 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 was a louse born disease due to the unhygienic 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 conditions in the trenches. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Paul Golightly] It spread through contact 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with lice and it symptoms aren't very pleasant 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It gives you a headache, you can have stomach 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 cramps, you can have pain in you joints 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and in your bones, you can get lesions on 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 your skin; it's not fatal but it can become 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 very debilitating. So debilitating you can't 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 be an effective soldier. Tolkien got a very 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 bad case, so bad that he had to be invalided 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "back to Blighty" as they put it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And in fact it was the end of his war. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] It saved Tolkien's life, it took 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 him out of the battlefield and back to Britain. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He was shipped home to Birmingham, to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The First Southern General Hospital as it 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 was called at the time, which was actually set 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 up in the grounds of Birmingham University. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And it was there that Tolkien was re-united 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with his wife, Edith and where he began 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 writing the first stories of Middle-Earth. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 His re-union with Edith was deeply emotional 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and was an inspiration for various pieces of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 writing in his mythology, notably the 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 story of Luthien and Beren; which features 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the Silmarillion and is mentioned in 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The Lord of The Rings. A love story between 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a mortal man and an immortal elf. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Gentle Piano Music) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] However, Tolkien's respite is short lived. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Shortly after returning to Birmingham, Tolkien 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 learns from Christopher Wiseman, that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 good friend G.B.Smith has been killed. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] The Battle of the Somme was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 over, and Smith had been organising a 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 football match for his men about four miles 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 behind the Frontline, when a stray shell 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 exploded near him. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He was hit by shrapnel and developed what 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they called Gas Gangrene, which killed 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 him within a few days. Early in 1916, while 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Tolkien was still in training, he had a letter 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 G.B.Smith, who by that time was in the trenches 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in France. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] Smith was about to go out on Night Patrol. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The officer who had led the patrol the night before 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 had been captured and most likely killed. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] It was about the most dangerous 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 activity that you could do on the Western Front 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and Smith was about to go into it and he took 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the opportunity to write to Tolkien, and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 tell him; "I'm about to go out on Night Patrol, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I am a wild and wholehearted admirer of 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what you've written and what you will write" 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He told Tolkien, "you I'm sure are chosen, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and you must publish." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Smith was essentially the first Middle-Earth 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 fan. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [Simon Stacey] Smith says in the letter that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 death couldn't put an end to the TCBS, to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the "immortal four" as he put it, that Tolkien 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 may say the things that he had wanted to 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 say, long after he is there to say them. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 That's very moving because Tolkien, although 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 very much his own individual artistic self, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I think did see his later career as an 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 attempt to fulfil the artistic dreams that 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they'd shared. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [John Garth] He was able to gather his strength 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and perhaps see Smith as an ideal to be lived up to. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [VO] In the summer of 1918, Tolkien and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Wiseman gather some of Smith's poems and 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 have them published in a small volume, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 entitled; "A Spring Harvest".